Page 32 of An Accidental Elopement

“Did someone force himself on you? Is that why you...” Archie clenched his fists and thought that even if she gave him the remotes hint that Lord Lambourn had hurt her, he would find the man and drag him from his bed and beat him into a pummel whatever his sister felt about him.

“Force me? No, why would you think that?”

Archie shrugged and unclenched his hands. He felt momentarily relieved but also as if he was standing at the precipice of a great abyss and that he could do nothing but jump into the darkness in front of him. Nothing had happened to her; it was simply that she did not want to sleep with him. He would have to be married to a woman that did not want him for the rest of his life. A woman he felt a burning passion for himself.

Fifteen

Despite their talk the previous night, Cecilia had expected Archie to knock on her door the next morning and for them to head down to breakfast together. He often rose late and since she had been up half the night thinking over their conversation from yesterday so had she today.

But after having been ready for a quarter hour, she gently knocked on Archie’s door, only to find that the sole occupant of his room was his valet, Peters. With one of Archie’s coats in his hand, Peters told her that Archie had gone to breakfast a couple of hours ago, then had come back to change into his riding attire.

Cecilia thanked him and embarked on the long walk to the morning room. She tried to reason with herself that this was not a betrayal on Archie’s part, even though it felt like it. His family was her family now as well and she had every right to be here.

Despite her own talk she still felt a bit hesitant about entering the morning room. As it turned out only Millie, Hester and Edwina was there. She greeted them in a subdued voice to not interrupt their conversation and immediately went to the buffet to fill her plate. Having slept so late, she was ravenously hungry.

Millie indicated the seat next to her with a smile. Cecilia sat down and started eating as she listened to their conversation.

“He has kept us up most of the night. I’m surprised Henry had the energy to go riding this morning,” Edwina told them and stifled a yawn behind her hand. Cecilia assumed that she was talking about her infant son. "I don’t understand how you managed it six times, Millie,” she said in a familiar tone that showed that the two women knew each other well.

As the future heir, Henry and his family lived in Camborne House in London along with the Duke and Duchess. Or Millie and Charles as they had requested that Cecilia called them.

“Well, I had a nurse who stayed with them during the night,” Millie answered and looked a bit put out by this. “That was how it was done back then,” she said as if she needed to defend herself.

Truth be told, not all women – or men – wanted their infant children in the bedroom like Edwina and Henry did. Cecilia admired Edwina’s approach to bringing up her children herself. It could be due to Edwina's unconventional upbringing. Her father might be an earl, but her mother was a former courtesan that had grown up in the East End.

“I think I would still prefer a wetnurse,” Hester chimed in. “Not sleeping through the night through years on end sounds positively maddening.”

Cecilia would have thought that this put Edwina off, but the tall, brown-haired woman only laughed.

“Well, having children is positively maddening. It has happened more than once that I cannot remember whether I have cleaned my teeth in the morning. And I have been late for dinner on more than one occasion because I thought I could manage a short nap before changing and then ended up sleeping for hours.”

Millie smiled at this comment, while it made Hester look a bit sick. Or perhaps she simply was sick. Cecilia’s older sister Cynthia had practically thrown up nonstop through the first three months of all four of her pregnancies.

“If you will excuse me,” Hester murmured and hasted from the table. Her departure was not commented on, but Cecilia saw Millie and Edwina exchange a look. Clearly, they suspected as well.

“Did Archie go riding with the Marquis... Henry, I mean?” Cecilia asked.

She was not certain what to do with the information, but she liked knowing where he was.

“No, he received a letter. He had to go into the village to take care of a matter. He did not say when he would be back, but surely it cannot be any later than this afternoon,” Millie answered.

Cecilia nodded as she tried not to let the disappointment that Archie had not even left a note for her show.

“If you have nothing to do, I would love some company with the baby. He is with the nanny now, but if I know him at all, he will want to be fed then walked to sleep afterwards,” Edwina told her with a tired smile.

Spending what was left of the morning with Edwina and the baby sounded quite pleasurable but during her tossing and turning this night, an idea had occurred to Cecilia. One that required her to talk to Hester. Well, technically Edwina would have the same knowledge but since Cecilia knew Hester better, she felt more comfortable talking to her. She wished that one of her sisters were here and could help guide her, but as it was, she would have to make do with Hester.

“Actually, there was a matter that I wanted to discuss with Lady Hester... Hester. But afterwards I will come find you,” she told Edwina.

Her new sister told her to find her in one of the upstairs parlors and Millie advised her to look for Hester in her study.

Cecilia had not anticipated the rush of emotion walking down the hallway towards the study gave her. The buttered toast she had just ate sat right at the back of her throat, waiting to be hurled up. At least she could be certain that this feeling was not due to morning sickness.

She was relieved to find Hester alone in her study. She was sitting behind her desk and looked confused and a bit annoyed when Cecilia entered.

“Yes?” she asked in a tone that strove to be friendly but missed by several marks.

“Well,” Cecilia began and clasped her hands as she looked around the room. Several stuffed birds were looking down at her from the top of bookcase, as if they too were waiting for her response.